Allen Greene's vision for Auburn as new athletics director driven by 'crazy obsession'

Allen Greene recalled a quote from Miami Heat president Pat Riley when discussing his vision as Auburn's new athletics director.

"To have long-term success," Riley once said, "as a coach or in any position of leadership, you have to be obsessed in some way." Riley, of course, knows a thing or two about long-term success. In his storied, Hall of Fame career, he has won nine NBA championships as either a player, coach or executive with the Heat and the Los Angeles Laker.

"You have got to be obsessed in some way," Greene said Friday during his introductory press conference as Auburn's 15th athletics director. "So as I stand here before you and as we get ready to kick off a new chapter in Auburn athletics, I'm committing to you my crazy obsession for the student-athlete experience, my crazy obsession for our quest to win championships, my crazy obsession to do the best I can to be an Auburn man, and my crazy obsession to do the best I can to make the Auburn family proud."

During his interviews with the search committee, Greene discussed three overarching principles he described as the "umbrella under which we will operate" and will serve as the driving force for his vision of the direction of Auburn's athletics program

"Broadly speaking, the vision will be to raise the national profile of Auburn University in lockstep with President (Steven) Leath," Greene said. "We want to make sure we develop our young people and make sure we have athletic success. That is how we are going to operate here at Auburn University and help create a better environment for everyone associated with it."

Those overarching principles include a focus on the student-athlete experience both on the field and in the classroom, as well as an investment in athletic success.

"We want, and we will, at the end of every game, be winners," Greene said. "We will be champions. Our mission is to provide you as student-athletes and our coaches every opportunity to win conference and SEC championships. We will invest ourselves heavily to do so."

The third principle, which Greene said is perhaps the most important, is making sure that the athletics department produces productive members of society and adequately prepares its student-athletes for the challenges of the real world.

"Our core values are going to be bookended by the student-athlete experience and our quest for championships," Greene said. "We're going to make sure we operate with integrity and compliance, particularly when it's most inconvenient. Our people are our most valuable commodity. We will make sure we recruit, retain and develop the most talented people within intercollegiate athletics. We want those people to be innovative and recognize that there are tremendous traditions here at Auburn University."

While Greene pointed to traditions such as Tiger Walk, the pregame eagle flight at football games and rolling Toomer's Corner -- which he admitted he wanted to do, then asked if he was allowed to do -- the athletics program has a considerable tradition of success as well, though it is not without its share of issues.

"I understand there are lofty expectations for Auburn athletics, and I embrace that wholeheartedly," Greene said. "Without these expectations, how do we expect to grow? How do we expect to better ourselves? How do we expect to push ourselves? The future is bright. It's incredibly bright, and I'm so happy to be here a part of it at this point in time. We've got some work to do. We're going to roll our sleeves up, get after it."

It's a vision that conjured excitement from those involved in the search process, Leath and head football coach Gus Malzahn.

"Very excited for Auburn athletics with Allen's leadership," Malzahn said. "Allen's the type that, you spend 10 minutes with him and he's got that personality. He's got a great vision. He's got the 'it' factor. You can get around him in a short period of time you can figure that out."

How Greene plans to enact his vision in the immediate future is by spending his first few months on the job, as he described it, shutting up and listening to what everybody in the building has to say and soaking it all in.

As for a timetable on implementing his vision, Greene said he did not have an answer for that. He acknowledged it will take some time to get a full feel of the department's landscape, get to know the entire staff and get his feet wet.

"I think over time, as I get a chance to learn people, I'll start to figure out what needs to be done and to what degree," Greene said. "I think ultimately though, to answer your question, we all want to move Auburn forward and we're going to work collectively to try to figure out how to do that in the best way possible."

Greene made one thing clear about his plan for Auburn's athletics program: He won't be afraid to take risks during his tenure as AD.

"We want our people to be armed and equipped and feel comfortable taking some chances, some calculated risks and knowing that it's OK to fail, because when you fail, you learn," Greene said. "We want to be innovative as we move this athletics department and this university forward. We want to do so keeping in mind the importance of the culture of diversity inclusion. There are a number of people in this world, and we don't all look alike, we don't all act alike, we don't all talk alike. We don't all believe in the same things, but that doesn't mean we can't be teammates, doesn't mean we can't be brothers, partners or sisters, so we will embrace cultural diversity. We will embrace different beliefs.

"We will challenge one another to think differently, to be different, all to make Auburn a better university. Like I said before, championships. Our quest for championships will be unwavering and we will be incredibly committed to making sure we bring home some hardware."

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.